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Podcast discovery -- it's a persistent challenge that affects listeners, creators, and distributors. The headline problem? An ocean of content and no easy way to dive deep. One of the best ways to make podcast content visible in general internet searching is to post transcripts. A new service tackles the audio search challenge.

Spotify has been rumored as a buyer for SoundCloud for month, but it seems that the takeover is a no-go. At least for now. TechCrunch reports that it spoke to a source at Spotify who said the potential acquisition went cold last week.

YouTube has reached an accord with the National Music Publishers Association about royalty payments for music with unknown ownership. The settlement potentially covers any unclaimed works that appeared between Aug. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2015.

Podcast distributor Satchel announced a collaboration with crowd-funding site Patreon. Satchel’s premise is connecting podcasts with local listeners; it first appeared on our radar in February. Now, its podcast player can be embedded with a call to action button that takes listeners to a Patreon page.

The long-beleaguered SFX has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy rebranded as LiveStyle. The company is still a specialist in electronic music, but the revamped version appears to be doubling down on live events.

by Mark Ramsey

The growth of podcasting is impressive, but guest columnist Mark Ramsey puts it in perspective with a couple of key comparisons. Perhaps a valid questions becomes, why isn't podcasting bigger? Ramsey has an answer for that.

Earlier this week, we reported on YouTube’s announcement that it made $1 billion in payouts to the music industry from advertising revenue alone during 2016. Although that seems like a striking metric, the news got an immediate response from the IFPI.

Warner Music Group posted its financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year, and streaming played a large part in the company’s strong results. The label didn’t break out specific numbers for streaming’s contribution, but did acknowledge its role in more general terms. “Digital growth reflects a continuing shift to streaming revenue,” the press release read.

SoundCloud Go is continuing its march of global rollouts, with the subscription service now available in Germany. SoundCloud’s expansion efforts have been keeping a steady pace this year. The Go subscription is available in the UK and Ireland, France, and Canada.

Slacker Radio and Triton Digital have expanded their partnership. Under the latest deal, Slacker will use Triton’s a2x programmatic audio advertising exchange to monetize its inventory for the U.S. and Canada.